Inking mechanism for printing presses



y 1930- I J. H. SCHUS-SLER 1,760,721

INKING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 22, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 27, 1930. J. H. SCHUSSLER I INKING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 22, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 27, 193a 'J. H. SCHUSSLER v INKING MECHANISM FQR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 22, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented May 27, 1930 EJNETED JOHN H. SGHUSSLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS INKING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Application filed May 22,

My invention relates to ink fountains for printing presses for the Gordon type of press and has particular reference to an inking fountain having means associated therewith whereby the ink from the fountain is positively fed out of said fountain and controlled in proper amount and properly and effectively distributed before being conveyed to the printing forms. 7 Another and further object of my invention is the provision of an ink fountain having feed meansassociated therewith in such position that the ink is fed onto a stationary plate or apron in the form of a thin film from whence it is carried by the form rollers to the printing surface of the form, the ink being pre-distributed by the ink fountain roller and duck roller in contact therewith.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of an ink fountain for printing presses of the Gordon type having means associated therewith whereby ink is conveyed to and distributed upon an inking disk prior to its being picked .up by the form rollers and conveyed to the printing forms.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of an inking fountain particularly adapted for use with the apparatus of my co-pending application Serial No. 547,225, filed March 27, 1922, particularly with res set to inking small forms or adapted to ink some portions of the form heavier than the others.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of an inking fountain which is simple and efiicient in operation and which is easily installed, and which is highly effective in results.

These and other objects of my invention will be more fully and better understood'by reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved invention and ink distributing means;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the upper portion of the press-and ink fountain;

Figure 3 is a detail side elevational view of the fountain;

1922. Serial No. 562,626.

Figure 4 is a view showingthe ink fountain control device on lines 44 of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a plan view of the stationary- [apronupon which the'deposit of ink from the fountain is made;

Figure 6 is a detail view partially in elevation and partially in section showing means of mounting the duck roller.

Referring now specifically to the drawings and in which like, reference characters refer to like parts throughout, a printing press frame 10 is shown having a pair of pivotally mounted rocker arms 11 and 12 secured thereto in the usual manner, the said arms having form roll trucks 13 and 14 mounted on their forward ends within which the form rollers 15, 16, and 17 are mounted in the usual manner. Secured to the frame 10 of the printing press in any approved manner is a pair of arms 18, 18 on the outer end of which the ink fountain 19 is secured, the ink fountain consisting of ablade or bottom member 20 and a pair of end members 21 and 22 usually formed integral with said bottom member 20 andhavi'ng a space 23 in said fountain within which ink is carried; A fountain roller 24 is provided, mounted within the members 21 and 22 the roller being turned down to form shafts 25 and 25 upon each of its outer ends, shafts being mounted in the blocks 21 and 22 by means of removable bearing blocks 26 and 27 held in position by means of lag bolts 28. On the outer end of the shaft 25 is mounted an arm 29 with a cam wheel 30 adjacent thereto with a ratchet wheel 31 fixed to said'shaft 25 by means of a rivet 32, a pawl 33 pivotally mounted upon the member 29 by means of a I pin 34, the pawl 33 being adapted to engage the ratchet wheel 31 so the fountain roller 24 O is rotated by the member 29. A rod 34* is provided which is secured to the rear end of the rocker arm 11 by means of a pin 35 so that the rod 34 is given an up and down movement by the operation of the rocker arm 11 as it carries the form roller over the chase and the inking plate' The rod 34? extends through the outer end of the member 7 29 and has a pair of adjustable collars 36 and 37 thereon, one on each side of the member I 29. The collar 36 is held in position on the rod 34 by means of a set screw 38 while the collar 37 has a transverse slot 39 extending therethrough with a transversely extending d recess 40 extending across the lower face of the member 37 at right angles to the slot 39. Pins 41, 41 are placed through the rod 34 in spaced relation to each other, so that the movement of the arm 29 is controlled by the position of the collars 36 and 37 upon'the rod 34. In the position shownin the d\raw;ings the rod 34 on its upward movement will move the member 29 its maxiimun amount giving.

the fountain roller 24 the maximum amount of rotation and carrying the maximum amount of ink out of the fountain on its surface. The collar 37 is moved by turning the same on the rod 34 and slipping the col- -lar37 downward over the pins 4l and then turned upon the .rod so that one of the 6 pins 41 will .rest in therecess 40 in the collar 37 when so positioned upon any of the pins below the positionshown in the drawings the red s id s. h ug the m mbe 29' an is pushed upward only ashort distance so at their lower ends and against end b'locks 48 and 49 Which are secured to each of the rods 42 and 43 by means of set screws 50, and have a transversely extending rod '51 connecting the ,said blocks 48 and49 and I which has a centrally mounted downwardly ex en ng link 52 seeuredthereto with a pull r d ,5 extend ng therethreugh with a pair of collarsl54and 55 on the said pull rod on each side of the member so that the movement of the r d 53 is communicated to the rods 42. and 43 through the link and crossrod 51 Mounted upon the flattened lower ends 44 45 of. th reds 42 and43 is ,a duck roller 56 having a hollow shaft 57 extending therethrough which is mounted upon a "pin 57 ext9nding through the bearing block 58, and upon .a spring mounted pin 57 pots-itienecl wi hin we shel 5 81-meunted rim-th hearingkbleek .52, the bloc s {being emed to the 1 mm" ends 44 and 7-45 1011: the rods 42 and 43 bynnieans 10f s cirews 60., r60 g-hawing springs 61' at the upper-sides thereof vSir-that the duckiroller 56 is resiliently mounted upon the bearing blooks-58 and 59 and is inormally held in -contact with the tountain-roller 24 by the springs 46 and 47 "The duck rpl ler 56 is =removably mounted -"byp uflling out the spring 'pressed pin 57 in r 5 5 e d-it tenses upo the sp e hereinafter described is controlled by the springs 61, 61.

The bearing blocks 58 and 59 have up- I wardly projecting portions 62 and 63 extending upward therefrom having U-snaped recesses in their upper ends within which a roller 64 is mounted, the roller 64 being turned down at eachof its ends to form shaft portions which ride in the members 62 and 63 and resting by gravity upon the duck roller56. ,Qlhe bearingportion of the shafts ofthe duck roller 56 and roller 64 are turned down slightlysmaller than the portions eX- tending from the rollers to the bearings so that shoulders are formed thereon to pre-' vent longitudinal movement of the rollers. Upon the lower end of each of the rods 42 and 43 and in'threaded engagement therewith are placed nuts 65 and 66 which are so ad'usted thatthe force ofimpact of the duck 1'oler'56 against the fountain roller :24 there by controlling the amount of ink picked up by the duck roller 56. I

Mounted upon the printing press frame 10 is the'usual circular rotatably mounted ink disk 67 having s. aced teeth 68,6801; the

lower side thereo adapted to be engaged "by a latch 69 pivot-ally mounted upon a rocker arm 70 by'a pin 71, a second rocker arm 72 being preri ed. hav eeand a rying a sha t '73 atfits inner :end t0 which the arm 70 is secu ed: nd .upon which a s c nd arm i positioned, held on thesha-ft 73 by meansof a set screw '75, the rod '53 being connected to the out r en of the '74 by .mean e clevisfiG through which a pin 77' extends. fllglounted in the outer end oftfhe .arm '72 is a el-l i .78 Wh dh travels up n seem 7 9 secured tothe rear side, of theroelier arm 11 and which has a rear portion' 80 extending tothe lower end 9f, he fej e er arm; 1.1 an th si e which is secured-a secon'd'cam memberill by means of a bolt 82 and which has the effect when the rocker a m is in a longitudinal position withlthe-form rollers over the chase the rod 53 so that its motion is communicated by means of the rods 42 and 43 to the duck roller 56 pushing it outward and causing it to deposit ink upo-nan apron 83 having arms,

sup-ply lof in'k ,ap-p lied"to the upper surface thereof by means of the duckroll 56 which is held (in normal position in contact with the fountain .IQller 24 and secures its deposit of ink from the surface of this roller 24. The

upper gform roll 15 coming up onto the apron 83, picks up a supplyof ink therefrom and carries'it downward over the inkingxlisk-67 A 7e 1. of moving the rocker arm 72 upward pulling from whence portions of it are picked up by the other inking rolls l6 and 17, and over the form with each printing operation of the press. I V

Each of the rocker arms 11 and 12 is mounted upon a shaft 87 extending transversely of the frame 10 and eccentrically mounted with respect to the frame 10 with an operating lever common to printing presses of this type connected thereto so that the pressbed is held out of contact with the form, this device being common to presses of this type and known as'a throw-off. On the shaft 87, I place a strap 88 with a bolt 89 extending therethrough on the outer end of which is an arm 90 which extends upward and is secured to the eccentric member 30 mounted upon the shaft 25 of the fountain roller 24. A roller 91 is positioned on the side of the pawl 33 in peripheral contact with the cam 30; The roller 91 holds the pawl 33 out of engagement with the ratchet 31 when the press is thrown off, that is, when the shaft is turned so the press bed does not come in contact with the form. Throwing the press off impression automatically turns the cam roller 30 so that the cam surface thereof is in contact with the roller 91 thus holding the pawl 33 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 26 so thatas the press continues in operation the fountain roller 24 is stationary and no ink is fed out of the fountain. As soon as the press is thrown into impression, the cam 30 is rotated by the arm 90 so the roller 91 is out of engagement with the surface of the cam 30, allowing the dog 33 to engage in the teeth on the ratchet wheel 26 so that ink is fed from the fountain by the roller 24 and pickedup therefrom by the duck roller 56.

In operation of the device, ink is placed in the fountain 20 and if a full form is used, ink is placed along the entire length of the fountain 2-0 and as the press starts in op-' eration, the fountain roller 24 is turned in a clockwise direction by the dog 33 in the member 29, the amountof rotation of the said roller 24 being controlled by the position of the collar 37 as heretofore described. The member 29 has a transverse slot 92 eX- tending thereacross through which the pins 34 pass when the collar 37 is positioned upon any of the pins below the upper one so that the amount which the fountain roller 24 is turned is controlled by the position of the collar 37 and if it is desired to carry out of the fountain a large amount of ink the arm 29 is given a full movement, the collar 37 being in the position shown in the drawings. If it is desired to move the roller 24 only a short distance, say one notch of the ratchet wheel, the collar 37 is placed upon the lowermost pin 41 whereupon the rod 34 slides through the member 29 and the member 29 is moved upward only a short distance. The duck roller 56 is in rolling frictional contact with the fountain'roller 24 at the time it is turned and receives upon its surface a supply of ink from the fountain roller 24, the amount of movement of the fountain roller 24 determining the amount of surface of the duck roller 56 which is supplied with ink, and therefore the quantity of ink delivered by the duck roller onto the apron 83. In the position shown in the drawings, the ink ing rollers are in contact with the inking plate and as the rollers pass downward over the forms, the cam 81 engages the roller 78 and through the action of the rocker arms 7 2 and 74, the duck roller 56 is pushed outward so that a deposit of ink is left upon the apron 83'which extends over the upper edge of the inking disk 67. It may be found in practice,'that the latch 69 can be removed entirely so that the disk 67 is stationary or a stationary inking plate such as that described and shown in my copending application, above identified can be used in the place of the apron and the rotatingroller 67, or secured to the inking disk 67 as shown in the application above identified. The bearing blocks 58 and 59 have projections 93 extending downward therefrom with a pin94 eX- tending therethrough upon which rollers 95 are positioned and which are adapted to engage the apron83 at its outer ends when the duck roller is pushed downward by the action of the pull rod 53 so that the apron 83 is lifted up out of contact with the disk 67 so the disk is free to rotate. The rollers 95 are pushed forward and pass under the apron 83 at the shoulders 96 and 97 on the said apron and in normal position are outside of the arms 84 and out of contact with the apron 83, the duck roll also being out of contact with the apron so that the apron drops down and rests upon the ink disk 67 at its forward end so the form rolls will pass on the lower side of the said apron and pick up a supply of ink deposited upon the apron by the duck roll 56. It will thus be understood that with each printing operation of the press, a supply of ink is carried from the fountain by the fountain roller 24 onto the duck roll 56 to the apron 83 and there picked up by the form rollers and distributed by their rotation over the surface of inking disk 67 and onto the surface of these rolls so that a complete ink distribution is effected, insuring proper inking of the forms as the ink rollers pass thereover. If a small form is being used, and only a small amount of space is to be covered, the ink is forced from the fountain at the particular point desired, the latch 69 is disconnected, and the ink by the use of the form rolls is sufficiently distributed so that proper inking of the form is secured without rotating the disk 67. The roller 64 in contact with the surface of the duck roller 56, and resting thereon by gravity assists in distribution of ink over the surface of the duck roller.

While I have described more or less precisely the details of construction, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto,as I contemplate changes in form and the proportion of parts and the substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or render expedient Without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

1'. Inking mechanism for printing presses comprising in .combination a pair of rocker arms, an inking carriage carried by said rocker arms, an inking plate, an inking fountain adjacent said plate, a feed roller mounted upon said inking fountain, a pair of rods,

mounting members for said rods, an inkingv member carried by said rods adapted to alternately engage the said feed roller and the said ink plate, the roller being adapted to travel over the inking face of the inking plate, a cam, a crank member operated by the said cam, and means adapted to co-act with the said crank member whereby the said inking member is moved from, said inking plate against the said feed roller.

2. Inking mechanism for printing presses comprising in combination a pair of rocker arms, an inking carriage carried by said rocker arms, an inking plate, an inking fountainadj acent said plate, a feed roller mounted upon said inking fountain, a pair of movably mounted rods, an inking member carried by said rods adapted to alternately engage the said feed roller and the said ink plate, a cam operated by said'rocker arms, a crank member operated by the said cam, connect-ing means between. said rods and said crank, and springs carried by said rods adapted to co-act with the said camwhereby the said inking member is moved from said inking plate against the said feed roller.

8'. Inking mechanism for a printing press comprising in combination, a pair of rocker arms, an inking carriage carried by said rocker arms, an inking plate, an ink fountain adjacent said plate, feed means carried by said fountain, a pair of .slidably mounted rods, a duck roller mounted upon said rods, a bell crank carried by .said press, a cam member carried by one of said rocker arms adapted to actuate said bell crank, and an operating connectionbetween said bell crank and said slidably mounted rods.

4. Inking mechanism for a printing press comprising in combination, a pair of rocker arms, an inking carriage carried by said rocker arms, an inking plate, an ink fountain adjacent said plate, feed meanscarried by said fountain, a pair of slidably mounted rods, a duck roller mounted upon said rods, a bell crank carried by said press, a cam member carried by one of said rocker arms adapted to actuate said bell crank, an operating conne t on. be we n a d ba c k a d. said cured to said printing press, a feed roller rotatably mounted in said inki fountain, connecting means between said'roller and the.

rocker arms'for rotating the said feed roller, a pair of slidably mounted rods in said ink fountain, a rotatably mounted duck roller secured to the lower ends of said rods, springs mounted upon said rods for holding the duck roller in normal contact withsaid feed roller, a bell crank mounted upon the printing press frame, an actuatingeam forsaid bell. crank carried by one of said rocker arms, and means connecting said bell crank and said slidably mounted rods.

6. In combination with a. printingpress, an inking plate secured thereto, pivotally mounted rocker arms on each sideof said press, an inking carriage on the outer ends of said rocker arms, an: inking fountain secured to said printingpress, a feed roller rotatably mounted in said ink fountain, connecting means between said roller and the rocker arms for rotating the said feed roller, a pair of slidably mounted rods in said ink fountain, a rotatably :mounted duck roller secured to the lower ends of said rods, springs mounted upon said rods for holding the duck roller in normal contact-with said feed roller, a bell crank mounted upon a printing press frame, an eccentric secured-to the rear end of said rocker arm, and connections between the bell crank and the rods whereby the duck roller is pushed down onto the inking plate whereby a deposit ofink is made upon said inking plate.

7. In combination with a printing press, an inking plate secured thereto, pivotally mounted rocker arms on each side of said press, an inking carriage on the outerends of saidrocker arms, an inking fountain secured to said printing press, a feed roller rotatably mounted in said ink fountain, connecting means between said roller and the rocker arms for rotating the said feed roller,

frame, a triangularly shaped track member mounted upon the rear end of one of said rocker arms, and connections between the bell crank andthe rods whereby the duck roller is pushed down onto. the inking plate Where-.

by a deposit of ink is made upon said inking plate.

8. In combination with a printing press, an inking plate secured thereto, an inking .fountain, a rotatably mounted feed roller in said ink fountain, a piVotally-mounted apron secured to said ink fountain, and extending down over the said inking plate and means whereby the ink is conveyed from said feed roller onto said'apron.

9. Inking mechanism for printing presses comprising in combination a pair of rocker arms, a form inking carriage carried by said rocker arms, an inking plate, fountain adjacent said inking plate, an inking roller mounted upon said inking fountain, an auxiliary inking carriage adapted to convey ink from said fountain onto said inking plate, means for movably mounting the said auxiliary inking carriage onto the fountain including a pair of spaced rods upon which said auxiliary inking carriage is mounted,

operating connections between said rocker arms and said auxiliary inking carriage, including a cam actuated by said rocker arms, and connections between the said cam and said auxiliary inking carriage whereby the latter is actuated.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of April, 1922.

JOHN H. SCHUSSLER. 

